PLAQUE WITH KEYS AND PEEPHOLE
1975 - 1991Long, rectangular, brown wooden plague with keys and peephole attached. Long, rectangular piece of dark, polished wood, with decoratively shaped ends. Attached to the front of the wood, from the top, are seven keys descending downwards, and held in place by tick metal wire. Two keys near the top have an inscription on the top of the handle. The key to the left reads, 'SERVANT CELL KEY/No 24' and the key to the right reads 'MASTER CELL KEY FEMALE/ No 1'. Underneath the keys, near the bottom of the wood, is a large, black metal decorative peephole. The front flap of the peephole swings sideways to reveal a photograph of a man's face in the hole. The back of the plaque has several holes in the wood with metal wire protruding from them.
The donor was a Prison Officer in Western Australia from 1975, first serving 16 years at Fremantle Prison, one year at Canning Vale and then 10 years at Casuarina Prison. The set of keys attached to this plaque are mainly for the Women's Prison, and includes the master and servant keys. The donor kept the keys after finishing with the Prison's Department and mounted them on this plaque as a memento. The photograph inside the peephole is an image of the donor.
Donation brought in as part of the Fremantle Prison Donations Call Out in May 2018.
Details
Details
The peephole on this plaque is of the type used in New Division at Fremantle Prison.
When Fremantle Prison was handed over to the Colonial authorities in 1886 it became the primary prison of the colony. The Perth Gaol was closed, and so female prisoners needed to be accommodated (no female convicts were ever sent to WA, so all female incarcerates were local offenders).
Completed in 1855, the building had originally been the kitchen and laundry area for the Convict Establishment. When it was modified into the Female Division (also known as the Women's Prison or Women's Division), a high perimeter wall was erected around it. Further additions were made in 1898, and again in 1909.
On 13 March 1970 the Female Division at Fremantle Prison was vacated, and all female prisoners were moved to the new Bandyup Prison facility. The Assessment Centre then moved into the vacated space, and the building was used to deliver education programs and other inmate services until the Prison's closure in 1991.
